The present invention relates to a pneumatic tire, more particularly to an asymmetric tread pattern for passenger cars and the like capable of improving the drainage performance without sacrificing the steering stability on dry roads.
In general, in order to improve drainage performance of a pneumatic tire, the tread portion is provided with circumferentially-continuously-extending longitudinal grooves, and the longitudinal grooves are increased in the cross-sectional area and/or volume. However, if the groove volume/area is excessively increased, there is a tendency that the road grip performance during cornering is decreased and the steering stability on dry roads is liable to deteriorate.
By narrowing the tread width, the drainage performance may be improved, but deterioration of the steering stability on dry roads is inevitable.